DOMA Is Doomed

A year ago today, the announcement about the Defense of Marriage Act came by way of a letter from Attorney General Eric Holder to House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio)… Three hundred and sixty four days later, U.S. District Court Judge Jeffrey S. White agreed.

White — who has served as a federal judge for the past decade after being nominated by then-President George W. Bush in 2002 — issued his order and opinion finding Section 3 of DOMA unconstitutional in a case brought by Karen Golinski, a federal court employee seeking equal health insurance coverage for her wife.

That’s right, a conservative judge named to the bench by George W. Bush has issued a broad ruling calling into question every law that discriminates against LGBT people:

In his 43-page ruling, White said “tradition alone” doesn’t justify legislation that targets a vulnerable social group.

“The obligation of the court is to define the liberty of all, not to mandate our own moral code,” White wrote. “The ‘ancient lineage’ of a classification does not render it legitimate.”

Yesterday, ho-hum, yet another federal district court judge ruled that a key portion of the Defense of Marriage Act was unconstitutional…Ten years ago, a decision like this would have been an excuse for a wave of antigay referenda. This week, it did not even rate a mention on the New York Times’ front page. I just can’t shake my head often enough. DOMA is coming down. Here’s the only question left: Three years? Five years?